George S. Patton Jr., Tank Pioneer
After founding the first U.S. tank training school, Patton was immediately presented with a major problem--he didn't have any tanks to train his troops with! The entire United States Army had only two tanks based on French designs; one of them powered by a steam engine. Finally, in February 1918, the French loaned the Americans 22 tanks for the school. Patton personally drove each one from the rail depot; there was no one else at the school who knew how to operate one! Once the tanks had arrived, Patton set about frantically training his troops on the new technology and preparing them for battle.